Welcome to 'OZ' - The 'Other' Side of the Rainbow!! Some posts may be seen as offensive. Posting is at 10AM and 2PM CST daily. Six days of posts are on the main page. The archives have more. You can forward posts by clicking on the envelope at the bottom of the post. Enjoy your stay! *** If you need to contact me, or have a copyright issue, please use the "Contact The Wizard" form on the right side of 'OZ'. Original source and author is cited and credited in each post where possible. ***

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Identical twins place their hands in a Y-shaped tube filled with mosquitoes to see how attractive they smell.
Credit: London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine

The likelihood of being bitten by mosquitoes could be down to our genes, according to a study carried out on twins. Research from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine found, for the first time, an underlying genetic component to how attractive we are to mosquitoes and this is likely to be caused by genetic control of our body odour.

Although this was a pilot study, it provides exciting information which may allow us to understand more about how our intimate relationship with mosquitoes has evolved. Ultimately the finding could result in the development of better ways to control mosquitoes and the diseases they transmit.

The findings are published in PLOS ONE and build on previous research where it was shown that attractiveness to insects is based on differences in body odour. People who are less attractive to mosquitoes produce natural repellents. It seems that this trait is genetically controlled.

A series of trials using 18 identical and 19 non-identical female twins showed that identical twin pairs were more similar in attractiveness to mosquitoes than non-identical twin pairs. The extent to which genes play a part - the level of heritability - in the trait for being attractive or not to mosquitoes was found to be at a similar level (0.83) as that associated with height (0.8) and IQ (0.5-0.8).

Funded by the Sir Halley Stewart Trust, the pilot study was carried out in collaboration with the University of Nottingham, Rothamsted Research and the University of Florida. TwinsUK assisted with recruitment of the sets of twins.

In the experiment, Aedes aegypti, dengue mosquitoes, were released into a Y-shaped tube which divides into two sections. They were allowed to fly down either side towards the odour from the study participants' hands to see which twin they were most attracted to.

Female mosquitoes display preferences for the smell of certain people when they choose who to bite to feed on the blood which they require to reproduce. For example, pregnant women are more attractive to Anopheles gambiae (the principal malaria vector in Africa) than their non-pregnant counterparts, and people with a greater body mass also appear to be more attractive to mosquitoes and midges. Diet is often suggested as an explanation, with anecdotes about eating garlic or drinking beer to keep mosquitoes away. However, there is no clear and consistent dietary explanation.

Senior author Dr James Logan, Senior Lecturer in Medical Entomology at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, said: "By investigating the genetic mechanism behind attractiveness to biting insects such as mosquitoes we can move closer to using this knowledge for better ways of keeping us safe from bites and the diseases insects can spread through bites. If we understand the genetic basis for variation between individuals it could be possible to develop bespoke ways to control mosquitoes better, and develop new ways to repel them. In the future we may even be able to take a pill which will enhance the production of natural repellents by the body and ultimately replace skin lotions."

I just wanted you to know that my favourite politicians are Mike Duffy, Pamela Wallin, Rob Ford, and that Trudeau kid."

Amen

SEX

On average, an American or Canadian man will have sex two to three times a week, whereas a Japanese man will have sex only one or two times a year.

This is upsetting news to most of my friends, as they had no idea they were Japanese.

THE YOUNG PRIEST

The elderly priest, speaking to the younger priest, said, ''You had a good idea to replace the first four pews with plush bucket theatre seats.

It worked like a charm. The front of the church always fills first now.''

The young priest nodded, and the old priest continued, ''And you told me adding a little more beat to the music would bring young people back to church, so I supported you when you brought in that rock 'n roll gospel choir.

Now our services are consistently packed to the balcony.''

''Thank you, Father,'' answered the young priest. ''I am pleased that you are open to the new ideas of youth.''

''All of these ideas have been well and good,'' said the elderly priest, ''But I'm afraid you've gone too far with the drive-thru confessional.''

''But, Father,'' protested the young priest, ''my confessions and the donations have nearly doubled since I began that!''

''Yes,'' replied the elderly priest, ''and I appreciate that. But the flashing neon sign, 'Toot 'n Tell or Go to Hell' cannot stay on the church roof..

Putin Transparency

Vladimir Putin, wanting to get on the good side of voters, goes to visit a school in Moscow to have a chat with the kids.

He talks to them about how Russia is a powerful nation and how he wants the best for the people.

At the end of the talk, there is an opportunity for questions.

Little Sasha puts her hand up and says, "I have two questions sir, Why did the Russians take Crimea? And why are we sending troops to Ukraine?”

Putin says, "Good questions."

But just as he is about to answer, the bell goes off, and the kids go to lunch.

When they return to class, the kids sit back down and there is an opportunity for some more questions.

Another young girl, Misha, puts her hand up and says, "I have Four questions. My Questions are - Why did the Russians invade Crimea? Why are we sending troops to Ukraine? Why did the bell for lunch go off 20 minutes early? And where is Sasha?"

Male Logic

Female Logic is an oxymoron of the greatest magnitude.

Male logic (or just plain logic) follows a direct path, clearly tying the consequences of action to the actor.

Female logic doesn’t follow a direct path. Female logic always contains a patsie, something to blame her her actions on just in case something goes wrong. This is why whenever a girl screws up, it's never her fault – she’s used female logic to cover her ass.

Male Logic: Critical Thinking At Its Best!

Woman: Do you drink beer?

Man: Yes

Woman: How many beers a day?

Man: Usually about 3.

Woman: How much do you pay per beer?

Man: $5.00 which includes a tip (This is where it gets scary !)

Woman: And how long have you been drinking?

Man: About 20 years, I suppose.

Woman: So a beer costs $5 and you have 3 beers a day which puts your spending each month at $450. In one year, it would be approximately $5400 …correct?

Man: Correct.

Woman: If in 1 year you spend $5400, not accounting for inflation, the past 20 years puts your spending at $108,000, correct?

Man: Correct.

Woman: Do you know that if you didn't drink so much beer, that money could have been put into a step-up interest savings account and after accounting for compound interest for the past 20 years, you could have now bought a new Ferrari?

Man: Do you drink beer?

Woman: No

Man: Where's your Ferrari?

Sex with a ghost*

A professor at Wayne State University in Detroit was giving a lecture on Paranormal Studies.

To get a feel for his audience , the lecturer asks , "How many people here believe in ghosts?"

About 90 students raise their hands.

"Well, that's a good start . Out of those who believe in ghosts , do any of you think you have seen a ghost?"

About 40 students raise their hands.

"That's really good. I'm really glad you take this seriously . Has anyone here ever talked to a ghost?"

About 15 students raise their hand.

"Has anyone here ever touched a ghost?"

Three students raise their hands.

"That's fantastic . Now let me ask you one question further ... Have any of you ever made love to a ghost?"

Way in the back, Steve raises his hand.

The professor takes off his glasses and says, "Son, all the years I've been giving this lecture, no one has ever claimed to have made love to a ghost . You've got to come up here and tell us about your experience."

The Antartian student replied with a nod and a grin, and began to make his way up to the podium. When he reached the front of the room, the professor asks , "So, Steve, tell us what it's like to have sex with a ghost?"

Do you know when it’s not time to make a blonde joke? Most situations are probably not good times to make them, actually. You will want to be with friends who know you are not serious about them if you want to make them at all.

Tuesday, April 28, 2015

An old cowboy walks into a barbershop in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan for a shave and a haircut. He tells the barber he can't get all his whiskers off because his cheeks are wrinkled from age. The barber gets a little wooden ball from a cup on the shelf and tells the old cowboy to put it inside his cheek to spread out the skin.

When he's finished, the old cowboy tells the barber that was the cleanest shave he'd had in years, but he wanted to know what would have happened if he had accidentally swallowed that little ball.

The barber replied, just bring it back in a couple of days like everyone else does.

Barb was lying in bed one night. Art was falling asleep but Barb was in a romantic mood and wanted to talk.

She said: "You used to hold my hand when we were courting."

Wearily he reached across, held her hand for a second and tried to get back to sleep.

A few moments later she said: "Then you used to kiss me..."

Mildly irritated, he reached across, gave her a peck on the cheek and settled down to sleep.

Thirty seconds later she said: "Then you used to bite my Neck..."

Angrily, Art threw back the bed clothes and got out of bed.

"Where are you going?" Barb asked..

"To get my teeth!"

DOWN AT THE RETIREMENT CENTER

80-year old Bessie bursts into the rec room at the retirement home. She holds her clenched fist in the air and announces, "Anyone who can guess what's in my hand can have sex with me tonight!!"

An elderly gentleman in the rear shouts out, "An elephant?"

Bessie thinks a minute and says, "Close enough."

OLD FRIENDS

Two elderly ladies had been friends for many decades. Over the years, they had shared all kinds of activities and adventures. Lately, their activities had been limited to meeting a few times a week to play cards.

One day, they were playing cards when one looked at the other and said, "Now don't get mad at me... I know we've been friends for a long time but I just can't think of your name. I've thought and thought, but I can't remember it. Please tell me what your name is."

Her friend glared at her. For at least three minutes she just stared and glared at her.

Finally she said, "How soon do you need to Know?"

SENIOR DRIVING
As a senior citizen was driving down the motorway, his car phone rang. Answering, he heard his wife's voice urgently warning him, "Vernon , I just heard on the news that there's a car going the wrong way on I-25. Please be careful!"

"Hell," said Vernon, "It's not just one car. It's hundreds of them!"

SUPERSEX
A little old lady who had lost her marbles was running up and down the halls in a nursing home.

As she ran, she would flip up the hem of her nightgown and say "Supersex."

She ran up to an elderly man in a wheelchair, flipping her gown at him, she said, "Supersex."

He sat silently for a moment or two and finally answered, "I'll take the soup."

DRIVING
Two elderly women were out driving in a large car - both could barely see over the dashboard. As they were cruising along, they came to major crossroad. The stop light was red, but they just went on through.

The woman in the passenger seat thought to herself "I must be losing it. I could have sworn we just went through a red light."

After a few more minutes, they came to another major junction and the light was red again. Again, they went right through. The woman in the passenger seat was almost sure that the light had been red but was really concerned that she was losing it. She was getting nervous.

At the next junction, sure enough, the light was red and they went on through. So, she turned to the other woman and said, "Mildred, did you know that we just ran through three red lights in a row? You could have killed us both!"

How you and the world have changed since you were born. Best viewed on Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer 10 and above

Click above to get started

Explore BBC Earth's unique interactive, personalised just to you.

Find out how, since the date of your birth, your life has progressed; including how many times your heart has beaten, and how far you have travelled through space.

Investigate how the world around you has changed since you've been alive; from the amount the sea has risen, and the tectonic plates have moved, to the number of earthquakes and volcanoes that have erupted.

Grasp the impact we've had on the planet in your lifetime; from how much fuel and food we've used to the species we've discovered and endangered.
And see how the BBC was there with you, capturing some of the most amazing wonders of the natural world.

Explore, enjoy, and share with your friends either the whole page, or your favourite insights.

Monday, April 27, 2015

Jayne Meadows (September 27, 1919 – April 26, 2015), also known as Jayne Meadows-Allen, was an American stage, film and television actress, as well as an author and lecturer. She was nominated for three Emmy Awards during her career and was the elder sister of actress Audrey Meadows.

Jayne Meadows Allen, a versatile early television actress who was nominated for three Emmy Awards and perhaps best known as a panelist on “I’ve Got a Secret,” died Sunday at her home in Encino, Calif. She was 95.

Her family said she died peacefully, of natural causes.

Meadows was also known as the wife and sometimes performance partner of TV host Steve Allen. They were married from 1954 until his death in 2000.

She was also predeceased by her younger sister, Audrey Meadows, who played Alice Kramden on “The Honeymooners,” and she is survived by her son Bill.

Bill Allen issued a statement saying, “She was not only an extraordinarily gifted actress who could move audiences from laughter to tears and back again all in one scene, but she was the greatest storyteller I have ever known and I will miss her endlessly fascinating and frequently hilarious anecdotes about her life and the many brilliantly talented people she worked with and befriended along the way.

“She was also the most loving mother and grandmother I could ever imagine, seeing only the best in all her family members and giving us all confidence that we had value to offer the world and should take risks because we could do no wrong in her eyes. She will be sorely missed and never forgotten.”

The French chef, who has been delighting New Yorkers with his cronuts since 2013, will open his first foreign outpost in the land of the rising sun. On June 20, a futuristic stand-alone tower in the business and fashion district of Shibuya will be dedicated exclusively to the bakery and all of the French chef's latest creations.

Dominique Ansel announced last September that he intended to bring a bit of New York and Paris to Tokyo. It'll be mission accomplished on June 20 with the opening of his latest outpost, a next generation bakery to transport the pastry wizard's confections into the future.

According to Line, the Japanese design studio Ansel trusted to bring this project to life, the launch zone will be a stand-alone three-story tower, a rare find in Tokyo where many retail spaces are located in enormous shopping malls.

A tower of delicacies

The ground floor, dedicated to retail, will be decorated in a design inspired by New York City and Paris subway stations. There, connoisseurs will be able to revel in Dominique Ansel's creations, including the famous cronut, a doughnut and croissant hybrid that orchestrates a delightful dance of flavors including lemon, raspberry and coconut.

At the rear of the first floor will be seating space beneath a custom work of art depicting a combination of the NYC subway and Paris metro lines. Instead of actual stops on the lines, though, customers will notice on one the names of the chefs that inspired Ansel, on another the various names of cronuts past, and on another some expressions and sayings from the chef's kitchens.

On the second floor is a café with table service where waiters will offer a menu different from the one downstairs. The menu's emphasis will be on eggs, in part because chef Ansel has been so impressed with the quality of the eggs in Japan.

The most curious will venture up to the third floor, where they will have the opportunity to see all of Ansel's tasty treats being prepared behind glass walls. And based on the fervor of the Japanese for the work of Pierre Hermé and the chocolates of Pierre Marcolini, you can expect that third floor to be crawling with visitors at all times.

This Japanese outpost will join the French pastry chef's growing network, which already includes the first store in New York's Soho and a second one opening not far away in the West Village at the end of the month.

Career Skills - Resume TipEmployers make snap judgments when glancing at your resume. If they see unrelated job titles or skills the likelihood is very high that they will make an immediate assumption that you are not qualified for the job you want. Adding to this problem is the fact that employers don't have the time to read through each of your job descriptions to determine if you have the skills they need. You Must Do That For Them!Love Quotes - BlessedBe blessed that you have someone in your life that can hold you when your down, catch you when you fall, and be there for you when you need support the most. Be blessed that you are loved. I'm sure their blessed to have found you.Words of Knowledge - Self-Esteem"To dream of the person you would like to be is to waste the person you are."

- Kurt CobainSelf-Improvement - IcebergsAn iceberg is a good analogy of our character and personality. The tip of the iceberg is what is seen first by other people; our personality. The part that lies underneath the water is our character, which lays unseen and hidden. Our personality is our image, techniques and skills that influence our outward success, but our true success will come from the goodness of our character that lies beneath the surface.Famous Quote - True patriotism"True patriotism hates injustice in its own land more than anywhere else."

- Clarence DarrowSelf-Improvement - Hard Time!If you are not having a hard time, you are not developing you character.One-Liners - Disappearing actLove comes and goes in the same way, suddenly....Health - Sleep ApneaChronic Sleep Apnea is a condition in which one actually quits breathing for short episodes during sleep. The condition is easily diagnosed by doctors trained in sleep disorders, by simply going to a sleep clinic. Some signs and symptoms include; loud snoring with moments of complete silence; a "snorting" sound with abrupt wakening; feeling exhausted even after you have slept for several hours; lack of concentration; and even falling asleep during the day while driving or on the job. This condition can be life threatening and is treatable."What a ride!"Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming "WOW, What a ride!!!"

- James Fineous McBrideFamous Quote - Intelligence“If I had 6 hours to cut down a tree I would spend 4 hours sharpening the axe.”

- Abraham Lincoln -Fitness - StretchingStretching is the most overlooked, but the most important factor of exercising. Stretching helps prevent muscle pulls and tears. Run or walk on a treadmill, or ride a stationary bike to warm up your muscles before stretching. Then, stretch all the basic muscle groups, including arms, buttocks, abs, neck, shoulders, legs, hips, and back. Hold each stretch for at least 30 seconds with a soft amount of tension. Do not bounce in a stretch! Be sure to stretch out again as part of your cool-down.

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About The Wizard...

I was born September 12, 1962 in St. Boniface, MB Canada. I live in Saskatoon, SK. I have one child, a son, of whom I am incredibly proud. I attended Royal school in Charleswood and after a couple of years at St. Paul's High School, I graduated from Shaftesbury High. I attended Red River Community College in Winnipeg and received a certificate in Business Administration, with a Major in Marketing and Management. I attended the University of Manitoba, earning multiple certifications in LAN Administration and industry credentials from Novell, (CNA); Microsoft, (MCP); and CompTia, (A+). February 25, 2002 was an important turning point in my life and I was re-born.

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Dwell not on the past. Use it to illustrate a point, then leave it behind. Nothing really matters except what you do now in this instant of time. From this moment onward you can be an entirely different person, filled with love and understanding, ready with an outstretched hand, uplifted and positive in every thought and deed. --Eileen Caddy